Tag: alex approximately

Another year, over! Look at that. Hopefully it was a good one–personally, since 2017 was a trashfire globally.

Personally, I think 2017 was pretty good. I hauled ass to graduate college–I did 5 classes for spring semester, took one summer session class, and completed my final 3 this fall. Last grade I got back was an A- *dusts shoulders* *sleeps for 10 years*

A highlight reel of cool things that happened: escaping the escape room with Brittany and Mith, another summer at the US Open, writing adventures (monsterbook), roaming the village for cute finds with Mith, cheering Katie on at her NY launch for The Girl with the Red Balloon, biking Central Park (ALL 7ISH MILES–yes, I died), biking Stanley Park (all 5ish miles–you can see now why I thought I could do Central Park…) (side note: Central Park has more hills) (who knew), Brittany baking me pie (again :D), going with Jess to see the very first showing of Beauty and the Beast and then taking my parents that night, Anastasia coming to Broadway and Derek Klena’s parody of Part of Your World.

(yes, it’s from 2016, but I watched it A LOT in 2017.)

I also got to intern at St. Martin’s Press and do cool things, and become privy to some cool bookish secrets 🙂

[any excuse for Galavant gifs, I use it]

Blah, blah, blah, Mic you wrote some words, did some things, met some new people, saw some new places–where are the books?

I’m getting there.

I also went to Comic Con again. I literally got to squeeze Kristen for like 5 seconds, and then escort her to her panel. And Katie was there and Brittany was there and everything was Wonder Woman, and there was some sort of Walking Dead thing that featured a guy being tortured and screaming every five minutes on the show floor which was 1000% annoying. And we stood in lines and Brittany read the first chapter of monsterbook while we ate ice cream and sat in the corner of the show floor.

How lucky are we that we get to live in the same timeline as the Wonder Woman movie? ~look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now~

Anyway, to the only topic that matters, BOOKS.

I was right when I said I wouldn’t get near 200 this time (2016, there was something special about you), but I did hit 125. I’m proud of that. My goal for next year is to read roughly the same amount.

Gonna start this one off with REREADS:

-The Scorpio Races. This was a book I read way back when it came out. I had been obsessed with Maggie because of Shiver, and when I read TSR, I don’t know what it was, but I just didn’t love it. It felt slow and overwritten and confusing to me. But so many people love it, and the premise is a Mickey!book, so I decided to give it a try this year in November and everything clicked. 6 years later I’m a bit more of a mature reader, ha, and I completely devoured it. Fell in love, and it’ll be one of my forever favorites now.

-Lola and the Boy Next Door. What a perfect delight! This was another one I didn’t totally love when it came out. Age also probably helped because I totally got Lola in a way I didn’t five years ago. And Cricket Bell is such a gem of a person.

-Bone Gap. I thought I’d be using this book for a term paper on disability, but I ended up scrapping that plan. Either way, I’m glad I got to reread this since I adore the characters so much. Sean and Petey and Finn and Roza are such a special bunch—but especially Roza and Petey because Bone Gap is really about the women at its heart ❤

-Harry Potter 1-4. So I totally failed at doing a full-scale Potter reread over the summer. But it was great to revisit the characters and the world. Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home. I’m not crying, you are. Side note: why is Prisoner of Azakaban so good??? Why does it ruin me every single time? I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS.

-Lady Midnight. I did this one before I read Lord of Shadows, which was an A+ decision. It just reminded me how much I love the Blackthorns. And these are giant tomes with lots of plot, so I kinda needed the refresher. Not sure if I’ll do another reread before Queen of Air and Darkness next winter. We’ll see.

-A Court of Wings and Ruin. So when the third ACoTaR book came out, I devoured it, and then promptly reread A Court of Thorns and Roses, Mist and Fury, and then ACoWaRagain. I don’t care. It had to be done. (It also really helped lessen the book hangover.) *anxiously waits for any bit of news about what the next novels are about* *NessianNessianNessian*

-A Darker Shade of Magic & A Gathering of Shadows. So just like Lady Midnight–and unlike ACoTaR–I reread these before the final book, A Conjuring of Light, came out. Very glad I did. Once again, needed the plot refresher and I love these characters and world so much. I wasn’t the hugest fan of AGoS when it came out since I found it slow and filler-y. But this time I was prepared for the pace and really just sunk into every word. Adore this trilogy!

So yes, those were most of the rereads I did this year (the standouts :D)! Very much enjoyed myself. Rereading is a true pleasure.

I looked over last year’s post, and I had a section for WHY DIDN’T I READ THIS SOONER, which is basically backlist books I finally read. I think this year the title goes to two individuals… firstly, Anna-Marie McLemore!

I fell head first into The Weight of Feathers and Wild Beauty. I haven’t yet read her sophomore outing When the Moon Was Ours… I’m saving it for a rainy day. I got too lost in the language when I read TWoF in 2015, but again, just a case of being older and a better reader. I love how she builds worlds out of words. Seriously, Ms. McLemore, please save some talent for the rest of us. And she’s not just telling me a story, either, but she’s showing me something about society.

Magical realism is a genre most people don’t understand, something that’s hard to explain, but it’s not just simply ‘where magic is part of the fabric of the world in subtle ways and unquestioned.’ It’s about resistance and oppression and the past and the future. I never got it before, and McLemore is a master.

Then, I’m sharing this honor with Mistress Holly Black. Holly is someone whose Curseworker series first book I read way back in the day. I wasn’t a fan, but a lot of other great people are. (I wonder if I’ll be one if I reread in 2018… :D). I ended up with an arc of The Cruel Prince from Bookcon, though, and I started reading it on a whim. It totally grabbed me from the first page. Since then, I’ve read The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.

Once again, I’m drawn to Holly because of her amazing writing. I got to see her at the Brooklyn Book Fest this year, and she legit said she builds her plots around a feeling she wants to evoke in the reader. Who does that? I am drowning in the sea of otherworldly magic that is Holly Black. She completely reinvents what you thought you knew about faeries or vampires. They’re not gorgeous humans with super strength, or humans that are super witty, but this new different creature that’s legit dangerous. So don’t mind me sitting here anxiously waiting for 2019 so I can read the second book in The Cruel Prince trilogy.

Mmmm, so now let’s break this down by genre, right?
[Last year I did have a separate section for 2017 releases, but meh, I can’t be bothered to do that again, so sorrynotsorry there’s some 2018s in this round up 😉 #tease]

2017 Contemporary Love

2017 Fantasy Love

2017 Historical Love

Here we go! My top books of the year… very much anticipating 2018 and all the wonders it’ll bring.

Hope you’re having a lovely holiday, and you can look back fondly amongst all the dystopian mess that’s taken place. And if you can’t, hopefully 2018 makes up for it. The bar is literally so low. Making it this far is an accomplishment in and of itself, so be kind to yourselves ❤

Wow, wow! It’s nearly the end of June which means we’re halfway through the year–this is madness!

So last year I did a post like this, but I came up with my own questions and categories. Today, I watched Piera’s video, and thought it would be fun to do this tag instead of doing another post on my own. The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag was created by ReadLikeWildfire and Earl Grey Books, and I’ve linked both their original videos here! And though it is hard, I’m gonna try REALLY hard to stick to one book per answer 🙂

~~

Best Book Read in 2017 So Far
Hmm… probably STRANGE THE DREAMER by Laini Taylor. The writing was just so beautiful and magical. And the story was just as good. Romantic, heartbreaking, brutal. I adored the characters and was so sucked into this world and the story. It was amazing.

Best Sequel You Read in 2017
Looking through my Goodreads, I haven’t read a lot of sequels this year! I read a fair bunch of trilogy enders, but not book twos. But from the few I did read, one totally stands out to me: A CROWN OF WISHES by Roshani Chokshi. I’m in love with this book! The writing was gorgeous and Gauri and Vikram are my babies! The story was so good and addicting. I’d love a movie, just to see this lush world brought to life.

Book You Are Excited to Read in 2017 But Haven’t Yet
This one is on the library, not me. I’ve had I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE, AND WE’RE OFF, and OUR DARK DUET on hold for ages, and the library still does not have its copies. Why must you do this to me D: I also want to really read Cindy Pon’s WANT, but that one isn’t even in the catalogue yet. There is one that is on me, though. I got ROAR in my most recent Fairyloot, and just haven’t had the time to read it yet. Woops.

Most Anticipated Books for the Second Half of 2017
WONDER WOMAN: WARBRINGER by Leigh Bardugo.
FOOLISH HEARTS by Emma Mills.
RENEGADES by Marissa Meyer.
Yeah, I broke my rule. Tough.

Biggest Disappointment
I respectfully decline to answer, but they made me sad.

Book You Were Surprised How Much You Liked ItMost recently it was GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS. I’m not a Snow White fan and I wasn’t sure what a queer feminist Snow White retelling would look like. But it was INCREDIBLE. Seriously. I was hooked from the first line. It was so good and amazing and complete perfection.

(but it’s all TRUE!! <3)

New Favorite Author
Hmmm… perhaps Melissa Bashardoust, who wrote GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS, ha. But I did really want to have different answers to each question or else it’ll be boring. *thinks* Okay I’m gonna change my previous answer…

Book You Were Surprised How Much You Liked It
SONG OF THE CURRENT, DONE DIRT CHEAP, or THE GLASS SPARE. Woops, so much for only picking one. But I want to shout about all these books and I don’t think I’ll have the opportunity to based on the remaining questions. Each of these books surprised me, cause I hoped I would like them, but I really wasn’t expecting much from them (except Song of the Current, really).

The Glass Spare was unputdownable from the beginning, and the characters were so good and the conflicts and romance and GAH MY HEART. Then Done Dirt Cheap totally snuck up on and I had to keep reading until I reached the end. And Song of the Current is the watery book of my heart! The world building was so fresh and Caro is amazing, and it was so empowering and awesome. Also A+ romance 🙂

OKAY GOOD. I have righted the order of things by breaking all my rules.

New Fictional Crush
Thomas Cresswell. He’s not new since I met him last year in STALKING JACK THE RIPPER, but I appreciated him so much more in HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA. Like to the point where I was like, “If you won’t take him Audrey Rose, I WILL.”

But NEW, NEW, as in only discovered this year 😉 is Porter from ALEX, APPROXIMATELY. Porter is… Porter. *dreamy sigh*

Some New Favorite Characters
Everyone already mentioned above for sure, and also the gang from THE HATE U GIVE. They were phenomenal. The voice in that book is overflowing. They were each so beautifully drawn and compelling.

Book That Made You Cry
Oh, just a tiny book called A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN. Full on sobbed.

Honorable mention: THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord.

Book That Made You Happy
I mean, also ACOWAR, but we’re being different (esp since I just broke the rules AGAIN) SOOOO… THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED. So precious. The most precious. Precious, precious, precious.

Book to Film Adaptation You Liked So Far
Uhhh… I haven’t seen any… I don’t think…

Most Beautiful Book You Have
Okay, this probably has to be STRANGE THE DREAMER because the UK edition is a treasure. The blue stained pages, the cover! I don’t know if anything will top it.

Books You Need to Read By The End of 2017
So everything I listed above in the anticipating and haven’t read yet sections, plus DARE MIGHTY THINGS, UNEARTHED, THE BELLES (I’ve got an e-arc :D), AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS, INVICTUS, probably some stuff I haven’t heard of yet… 😀

And there we are! The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! I can’t end this better cause I have to jet to work. BYE